King of Stars Volume 1 (An interstellar ATEEZ Hongjoong fanfiction)

Part Seven: In Which 10-24 Learns Mercy

"He still hasn't woken up," Wooyoung informed us his eyes never straying from the beast. He sat in a metal perch keeping watch on the scene in front of us while holding a plasma rifle that was loaded and ready to fire.

We found ourselves in the hangar and face to face with the three headed dog from the fighting ring. The musky scent of its breath was in the air as it panted. It eyed us warily, bloody froth dripping from it's mouth.

            "How did that get on the ship?" I asked the Star King.

          "When we pulled you from the ring that thing had San in it's mouth." Star King explained. "It wouldn't let him go. But it followed us to our transport ship and boarded it. It was like it knew exactly where to go."

"And that's how it's been ever since," Mingi sighed in exasperation. "That thing won't let us near him."

"Let's just shoot it and be done with it. San needs our help." Wooyoung suggested aiming the gun at the creature.

As if we sensing his intentions the heads gnashed their teeth as it let out a low snarl, back bristled. Purple blood had dried black and matted into clumps in it's russet brown fur. The wound on its back was angry and red with infection. It moved as if it was in an immense amount of pain. All of this compounded to make it even more irritated.

"Don't kill it just yet Wooyoung." Star King demanded. "We may not have to resort to bloodshed. Have you used your power on it?"

"I've already tried my power but that sort of thing doesn't work on animals." Wooyoung shot a wary glance at me and quickly looked away. I was a bit perplexed at his reaction but didn't comment on it. Wooyoung relaxed his grip and lowered the weapon.

"You could order me to subdue it." I said and everyone looked uncomfortable at my suggestion. The room seemed to grow cold as if something unspoken between the pirates hung in the air. I continued a bit unsure of myself. "I'm fully healed so something like this would be simple."

Star King looked at me with a wary glint in his eyes. "You won't interfere," He commanded. "We can't risk you losing control again."

I felt the flush from earlier creep back up my neck and their distrust made something tighten painfully in my chest. "Understood."

Mingi and Yunho both looked as if they wanted to volunteer but the captain raised his hand to stop him. "Neither of you will try because you still have injuries from the fight to recuperate from."

"I'll try to calm it down," the Star King announced. "If anything goes wrong Wooyoung," He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "shoot it."

Wooyoung nodded and locked onto the creature with his gun ready. The tension in the room was palpable. The captain took a step forward and all three dog heads focused on him. The wounded animal shakily got to it's feet. When it stood I finally caught a glimpse of the figure on the ground behind it.

San laid unconscious beneath the beast, his chest barely rising and falling.

The Star King slowly moved closer and the agitated beast let out a growl. It stood with its muscles coiled over San as if prepared to attack. The movement made a cut reopen and dark blood spilled onto the floor.

The Star King remained calm and continued his slow progression forward. With every step he took the beast became more aggressive and still refused to budge from San's side. When the captain was about ten paces from the beast it turned and leaned over San's unconscious body.